Thoughtworks Technology Podcast

Rethinking the software development process for an era of specs and AI agents

The agentic era of software engineering began almost a year ago. And while much has changed in 2026, there's still a lot that hasn't been settled. One of the most importa

Open-weight models: What are they and when should you use them?

We've seen a huge amount of increase in interest around open-weight models in 2026. The reasons for this are multifaceted, ranging from the switch to per token billing, t

AI-generated code: What has to be true for us to trust it without looking at it?

We've been thinking a lot recently about the status of code in a world where it's increasingly written and read by AI. Could the spec, for instance, become the primary wa

Scaling the enterprise harness: How to achieve AI agent controllability across an organization

Harness engineering is still a new concept, but already we've noticed a challenge being consistently faced by technology leaders: how can a harness be used at scale acros

Embracing hybrid AI: How Lenovo is leveraging local, on-device AI

Cloud was one of the main drivers of the early waves of AI adoption. However, as AI has become more and more embedded in systems and devices — in both consumer and enterp

What does the future of software engineering look like?

At the end of June, Thoughtworks and Martin Fowler convened an unconference-style event in Switzerland with a range of industry leaders. The aim was to reflect on the cur

What is code?

What is code? It might sound obvious, but if you scratch the surface it becomes more difficult to articulate precisely what we mean. AI is complicating the picture furthe

Database branching: Overcoming the bottlenecks of shared database environments

Database branching has, for a long time, been a troublesome piece in the modern developer workflow puzzle: a good idea in principle but in practice a slow and often expen

What is spec-driven development?

Semantic diffusion, combined with the pace of technology change, makes talking about AI-adjacent practices and techniques incredibly diffficult. There are few better exam

What is harness engineering?

'Harness engineering' is one of the most significant terms to emerge in software engineering in 2026. Broadly referring to the work done to control unpredictable AI agent

Anthropic Mythos: Hype, reality and the actual security implications

Anthropic Mythos garnered significant attention when it was launched in mid-April 2026. Yet despite it apparently presenting an unprecedented threat to global software, y

Key themes in Technology Radar Vol.34

In April 2026 we published a new edition of the Thoughtworks Technology Radar — volume 34. Like many recent volumes, this one was dominated by AI. However, while editions

How it feels to be a software engineer when AI is changing our relationship with code

There's been a lot of discussion and debate in recent months about exactly how software engineering will be reshaped by AI. While it remains to be seen what the disciplin

Be brilliant at the basics: Inside Looking Glass 2026

The Thoughtworks 2026 Looking Glass report was published in January. Designed to provide business and technology leaders with the tools to better understand and navigate

Durable computing: What is it and why now?

Managing distributed systems and complex workflows can be challenging. What happens when something fails? If a task isn't executed to completion, that can lead to serious

Inside AI/works™: An agentic development platform

In January 2026, Thoughtworks launched AI/works™, an agentic development platform. It promises to make the capabilities of AI agents a reality for the enterprise, helping

Unlearning, experimentation and engineering rigor in an agentic world

In a world that's being transformed by AI agents and agentic systems, how do software developers unlearn what they know while also maintaining engineering rigor? In an

Exploring AI agent platforms

If AI agents really are the future of how work will be done — in software engineering and beyond — the platforms on which they are built, run and maintained will be cruci

Architecture antipatterns and pitfalls: Good intentions, bad habits and ugly consequences

You can grasp the basics of software architecture by learning design patterns, but you probably won't master it — to do that you have to get to grips with antipatterns to

Are we entering the 'age of intent' in digital interaction?

The 'age of intent' is a phrase that's been around for a number of years. However, with the rise of AI agents in 2025 it has the potential to become a key trend for 2026.